Each month we define and discuss a word of character development and life skill with all of our students.
This month the word is Integrity and will be defined this way.
Young students: Integrity means: I mean what I say and I say what I mean!
Older students: Integrity means: Being true to yourself, your values, and your word.
This is the second in a series of emergencies every child can learn to handle. Every child can learn to save the life of a person who is choking.
This is the first of a series in emergencies every child can learn to handle.
More information on when to call 911 in a medical emergency.
Learning how to think and talk to ourselves is a key factor in teaching our children optimism. If we can develop the habit of looking at the good things that have happened to us, or the new things that we have learned, we have knowledge that we can reflect on when the going gets tough. Recently I posted a TED talk on smiling. Learning to think about the good things that happen to us and taking a moment to be thankful and smile will help us and our family to be optimistic.
This is like a muscle though in that if we want that ability in the difficult times, we must practice it and work it in the good times. The practice and habit of being thankful for what we have, focusing on the good both in ourselves and others, will create a good mood for ourselves. When we smile at another person it has an affect on them and on us. Our mood will pick up and we can naturally be more optimistic.
If it seems that we are in a cycle of being in a bad mood, depressed, or negative about many things, how can we break that cycle? I would suggest that we think about things in our life where we succeeded in a situation that seemed impossible. Use that as a starting point where we can see we have had success and can be sure of our ability to duplicate that success. Look for the silver – lining. If we make a mistake, what can we learn from it and where can we apply our new knowledge? What are some other possible outcomes? What is the good that we can be focused on? My third suggestion is to adopt the attitude of gratitude. Pause and be mindful of the ‘little things’ that we may have taken for granted in the past. Being thankful and taking the moment to express that gratitude either to another or to ourselves, will build on itself into not just gratitude but also optimism.
Being optimistic is more than just a great way of thinking, if you can. Optimism is a part of being a leader of others and is a way of thinking that is good for our children to learn. When our children can be optimistic, looking at the bright side, they learn to look at their goals in a new way. We know as parents that if we go into a project or learning situation and do not believe that we are able to accomplish it,or believe that we are a failure – we are most likely to have that result.
The powers that we can teach our children they need to feel hopeful about reaching their goals is first willpower. Will Power is about continuing to work at their goal until they reach it. We can teach Will Power by encouragement of their efforts along with not just giving them everything that they want. Allow them to have goals that they have to work for over a period of time. The second power they will need is “WAY-Power”. This the power that even when things get in the way, you know you will find a way to reach your goal. As parents we know that life is tough and that not all things come easy. Allowing our children to have obstacles and to learn to overcome them will be a great help in developing WAY-Power.
If you have those two powers, Will-Power and Way-Power, you have optimism.
Greetings
I am Corey Hopp, a student at the school of Master Yuan Xiu Gang in Wudangshan, a rural city in Hubei province, China. I have been training here intermittently since 2008, and with full-time intensity since 2009. I am now a member of our school’s traditional class, an amazing opportunity for non-Chinese to learn the ancient arts of Taijiquan (Taichi), Gongfu (Kungfu), and Qigong, as well as Daoist philosophy and tradition.
On my recent trip home to Annapolis, I had the pleasure of meeting the Balanced Life Skills community and teaching a brief seminar covering some of the basic exercises I have learned here in Wudang. With this blog, I want to continue to share some of the rewards of my adventures here. Imperfect as my understanding of my Master’s teachings may be, I hope to set down my reflections on what I am learning and give a series of snapshots of the life of a foreigner in rural China. I won’t claim the things I write to be anything more or less than my own opinions and observations, but hey, that’s blogging.
As I mentioned, I am a member of the traditional class. This means that I have committed to be here at the school 11 months of the year for 3 or 5 years. I have committed to a disciplined and rigorous lifestyle and training program. I have pledged myself to do what my Master tells me to do, in the faith that his wisdom will rub off on me someday. A day when I am not in pain, whether from fatigue or from sparring practice, is rare. The discipline makes space, however, for great peace of mind. Check out www.wudangtaoistarts.com for more info on my class.
I have just returned to Wudangshan from a trip home to visit my family and repair my finances. Before that trip home, I was in China for my longest continuous training, 15 months. Those months changed me, and just being home for a while was an adventure in itself. But check in next time to see what I mean.
